Gaza, Feb 28: Hamas handed over four dead hostages to the Red Cross early Thursday in exchange for Israel’s release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, days before the first phase of the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip was to end.An Israeli security official confirmed that Hamas handed the hostages’ bodies to the Red Cross. Israel said the caskets were delivered with the help of Egyptian mediators through an Israeli crossing and an identification process had begun.
At around the same time, a Red Cross convoy carrying several dozen released Palestinian prisoners left Israel’s Ofer prison. Crowds of cheering families, friends and supporters gathered in the West Bank town of Beitunia, jostling for a glimpse of the bus as it arrived.
Well-wishers greeted the released prisoners, hugging them and snapping photos. One released man made a victory sign as he was carried on the shoulders of supporters, with the crowd chanted āGod is Great.ā
Hundreds of other prisoners were to be sent to Gaza, many of them detained after the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks and never charged.
Israel had delayed the release of over 600 Palestinian prisoners since Saturday to protest what it called the cruel treatment of hostages during their handover by Hamas. The militant group has called the delay a āserious violationā of the ceasefire and said talks on a second phase aren’t possible until the Palestinians are freed.
Earlier Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the latest release of hostages’ bodies would be carried out without ceremony, as opposed to past Hamas releases with stage-managed events in front of crowds. Israel, along with the Red Cross and UN officials, have called the ceremonies humiliating for the hostages.
Among those scheduled to leave Israel early Thursday were hundreds of detainees arrested from Gaza, held on suspicion of militancy after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack, without charge for months. They include 445 men, 21 teenagers and one woman who were all arrested after the Hamas attack, according to lists shared by Palestinian officials that did not specify their ages.
Only around 50 Palestinians were released into the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem in this round. Dozens sentenced to life over deadly attacks against Israelis will be exiled out of the Palestinian territories, taken to Egypt at least temporarily until other countries accept them.
The handover would complete both sides’ obligations under the ceasefire’s first phase, during which Hamas returned 33 hostages, including eight bodies, in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.
The ceasefire’s six-week first phase expires this weekend. US President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, has said he wants the sides to move into negotiations on the second phase, during which all remaining hostages held by Hamas would be released and an end to the war would be negotiated.
Talks on the second phase were supposed to begin the first week of February.
The ceasefire, brokered by the United States, Egypt and Qatar, ended 15 months of war that erupted after Hamas’ 2023 attack on southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people. About 250 people were taken hostage.